Method for burning gases.



H. E. PARSON.

METHOD FOR BURNING GASES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 30, 1905.

Patented May 17, 1910.

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Patented May 17 H. E. PAR$ON.

METHOD FOR BURNING GASES.

APPLICATION FILED nmnso, 1905. 958,428.

1X" macaw um'rED STATES PATENT orrrcn HENRY EDWIN PABSON, NEW YORK N. Y., ASSIGR'OE IPABBON IANUFLCTUBING comm, 01 NEW '!OBK, 1i. .Y., A CQROBATION OF NEW YORK- mm 201:. surname oases.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY EDWIN PAB- SON, a citizen of the United States of America, and resident of the borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods for Burning erly.

Gases, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a method of operating a boiler or other heating furnace in conjunction with a blast furnace, so that the gases generated in the blast furnace may be economically consumed in the heating furnace to serve as fuel for the latter.

The referred ap aratus for carrying mto effect t e method 0 the present invention is set forth and claimed in an application No. 302,766, filed Feb. 24, 1906, which is a d1- vision of this application.

The invention has particular reference to a method of enriching the blast furnace 'ses; of re at' the feed of gases from t lie blast fur ri dce t o the boiler furnace; and of regulating the temperature of the boiler furnace so that the steam ressure in the boiler may be high and uni orm in spite of the necessarily varying and uncertain mixture of hydrocarbons, carbon monoxid and other constituents of the blast furnace gases.

Boiler furnaces are necessary adjuncts to blast furnaces. The boiler furnace must supply the steam pressure or power for operating the twyers or blasts of the blast furnace, as well as the power for operating the lifts and all the numerous movable partsused in connection with, or forming part of the blast furnace. A large percentage of this boiler power is, however, ordinarily absorbed by the blowers for operating the twyers; and the. steam used or this purpose should be substantially uniform in pressure if the blast furnace is to operate rop- The most convenient and natura fuel for the boiler furnace is the gas which passes from the stack of the blast furnace. This gas is, however, low, and variable, in heatmg value. At times its per cent. of those constituent gases which, have a moderate heating value, is fairly large but at other times, during the reduction process, which is taking place in the blast furnace, the blast furnace gases are extremely low in heating value. For this reason blast .fxrrnace gas, althoughthe cheapest and mosttftgonvenient flr q of 1mm Pflnt Patented May 17, 1910.. Application and June so, 1905. Serial ll'o. 201,323.

fuel available for the boiler furnace," is ordinarily not relied upon or used to any exclusive extent for this purpose.

One object of my invention is to enrich the blast furnace gas with a sufficient amount of hydrogen, provided by the decom osition of steam in'the presence of incan escent carbon, to transform it, in effect, into a producer gas; and to admix it with a sufiicient amount of oxygen, in the form of air, to bring about perfect combustion of the 1 mixture at an extremely high temperature. in the boiler furnace.

A next and essential feature of the invention is to produce in the boiler furnace a temperature sufliciently high to ignite the incoming mixture of blast furnace gas, steam, and air, and to decompose the steam to liberate the hydrogen. The ignition of the incoming gases I effect in the first instance through a preliminar heatin of the boiler furnace by means. of grate es located therein; but once the gases have been so ignited, this function of the grate fires is at anend, for the incomin gas is then ignited by the burning gas ah'eady in the furnace.

A third, and a mostimportant, feature of the invention is the re lation of the temperature of the boiler urnace; since, without re lation, this temperature must vary with t e quality and volume of the blast furnace gas. This featureof the invention I effect by means of the grate fires above thus reducing the heating effect of the latter to counteract the increase in heat from the burning blast furnace gases. Grate fires have heretofore been used in conjunction with the burning of blast furnace gases, with the object of adding to the small, and in itself .insufiicient, amount of heat derived from the gases, and to the end that the total of heat might be high enough to assure the proper boiler ower. Such grate fires have not, however, een used, nor have they been adapted to be used, essentially to regulate a normally efficient gaseous fuel. Bituminous coal fires have heretofore been used in connection with the burning of blast furnace gases, but because this coal is high in volatile and has other peculiarities, ob ectlonable in this connection, it cannot, as heretofore used, be made to regulate the temperature.

of a boiler furnace burning blast furnace gases. In carrying out my invention, I preferably use fuel which is low in volatile constituents such as anthracite coal, coke, or coke braize, as the fuel'for my grate fires, and may successfully use the lower grade of such fuels, by employing a proper type of blower for the grate fire blast. Preferably I do use such low grade fuels because of their cheapness. I

The regulator preferably employed me for controlling the blast to the auxiliary grate fire is of the type described 111 my United States Patent No. 784,121, dated March 7 1905. A regulator of this type is indicated on the drawings forming part of the present application, and its operation will hereinafter be briefly set forth.

To further regulate the operation of the boiler furnace and blast furnace, I preferaoly cause the feed of the blast furnace gas to be automatically accelerated when its heating value dro s due to change in character or volume 0 the gases; and vice versa, its rate of feed to be automatically decreased when its heating value increases. This regulation causes more of the blast furnace gas to enter the boiler furnace when the quality of the gas is poor, and less to enter the boiler furnace when its quality is good. The regulation is readily eifected by placing the steam, which supplies the blast furnace gases with hydrogen, under the control of the regulator which controls the grate fire blast hereinbefore referred to, or under the control of an independent regulator.

The apparatus in which the invention is embodied comprises'a deflecting surface of refractory material which becomes highly heated in the operation of the boiler furnace, and serves to deflect, mix, and raise to a high temperature the incoming gaseous mixturewhich is directed against it; and it serves furthermore to cause these gases to mix and burn with the gases from the grate fires. The relative arrangement of the grate fires, the deflector, and the blower, as well as certain other details of structure to be hereinafter specified, are important features conducive to the successful operation of the invention.

Having outlined the objects and nature of my invention, I will now describe in detail and in connection with the accompanying drawings an apparatus embodying the same.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of the front portion of the boiler furnace, partly in section, showing its connection with the blast furnace. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the boiler furnace taken on the line 22 of Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a sectional plan of the boiler furnace taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the boiler furnace taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2, looking from rear to front. Fig. 5 is an end view of the casin 5.

Referrin to the drawings, the blast furnace 1, is s own as having its stack 1 connected to a subterranean conduit 2. The conduit 2 connects with a vertical tube 3 and through the latter with a casing 5, which opens at its front end into the fire-box of the boiler furnace. A valve 4 controls .the flow of the gas from the stack of the blast furnace to the casing 5; Within the casing 5, (see Figs. 2 and 3) are three T shaped air conducting inlet tubes 6, the cross-arm of each T opening at both ends 6 through the casing 5 and communicating with the outside air, and the other arm of the T extending longitudinally of the casing parallel to the gas conducting tubes, and terminating at or near the point where the casing opens into the fire-box. The inlets6 to the tubes 6 may be adjusted to regulate the How of air therethrough by dampers 25 of any suitable design, as shown in Fig. 1. The casing 5 is also furnished with a supplemental va ve 26 in the outer end 27 of the same, (see Fig. 5) of an suitable type to deliver, when required, a ditional air independent of the air inlet tubes 6. Also within the casing 5 below the level of the air tubes 6, and projecting slightly forward of the rear ends of the latter are two steam blowers 7, connected by a pipe 7 to a pipe 14:, which leads to the boiler. The blowers ,7 serve to force the blast furnace gases from the conduit 2, and the air from the pipes 6, into the fire-box. The steam thus injected, when decomposed in the fire-box supplies hydrogen to be burned with the other gases, and the air through the inlet 6 supplies the necessary oxygen to effect the combustion of the gaseous mixture.

Opposite the inlet from the casing 5 to the fire-box is a wall 9, which'slopes from the top of the bridge-wall 17 downward and forward to the front wall 8 of the furnace, terminating at the latter at a point at or about the level of the bottom of the casing 5. Between the sloping wall 9 and the side walls of the furnace on either side of the sloping wall are grates 11, substantially horizontal. These grates at their rear extend behind the wall 9, as shown in Fig. 2, and at their forward ends are separated from the wall 9 by vertical walls 10. The

walls 10 serve to guide the gases fromthe ate fires upward so that they do not come into contact with the sesfrom the easing 5, until the latter ave been projected 'againstc the wall 9. The wall 9, which in the 0 station of the furnace is maintained at a igh heat, serves to deflect and cause to be mixed the ses from the. casing 5, and also deflects t ese gases into the gases from the grate fires, so that a substantlally homogenous mixture of burning gases. is obtained. A blast of air and steam is supplied to the ashits 11 (see Fig. 2), below the ates 11, he blast is primarily injecte into the ash-pit ofone of the grates and a part thereof then passed to the ash-pit of the other grate by a ipe 16, which extends crosswise of the urnace under the wall 9, and connects the two pdts, as shown in Fig. 3. To provide for t is blast, the blower casing 12 (see Fig 3) opens atone end into one of the ash-pits, and at its other end 12' opens into the outer air.

Communicating with the interior of the casing 12 at a point intermediate. the ends of the latter and outside of the side wall of the furnace is a steam supply pipe 13; This pipe as shown in Fi 3, passes first rearward along the outsi e wall of the furnace, then throu h the outside wall and through a ortion 0 the bridge-wall, then straight orward under the rear portion of the sloping wall 9 and through one of the walls 10 and the front wall of the furnace 8 to the point 13-, where it joins the steam pipe 14 from the boiler. The grate fires are f through furnace, and the ashes from the ash-pits 11 are removed through doors 15 below the doors 15 in the front wall of the furnace.

The combustion chamber to the rear of the brid e-wall 17 comprises a series of arched c ambers 20 (see Figs. 3 and 4), separated by brick partitions 21.- The floor 22 of these chambers slopes upwardly from the rear of the furnace to a point near the I top of the bridge wall 17. In the top of the bridge-wall 17, and opening rearwardly toward the chambers 20, are air passages 20',

which supply air for further combustion in the combustion chamber. These passages 20, as shown in Fig. 2, extend inward to the center of the bridge-wall,- where they open into a narrow' vertical chamber 23. Extending through one side wall of the furnace is a blower casing 19, which at its inner end opens into the chamber 23, at the bottom of the latter, and at its outer end 24, opens into the outer air. A steam blast is admitted to the casin 18, which as shown in ig. 3, connects with the steam pipe 13, and through the latter with the steam pipe 14 from the boiler.

.For the purposes hereinbefore set forth doors 15 in the front wall of the 24 by a steam pipe the boiler, the steam pipe 14 which su plies steam to the blast furnace gas, is connected with the boiler through a valve 28 (see Fig. 1). This valve is similar to the onefully set forth and degrate fire blowers and to -the blowers 7 for'feedingor accelerating the scribed in my Patent No. 742,128, to which reference is made in my Patent No. 784,121.

.Thestem 29 of the valve 28 is connected to a. iston 30 working in a cylinder 31. The cy 'nder 31 connects by a steam pipe 32 to a portopening mtothe cylinder 33 of a regulator 34. Also communicating withthe c3 1. inder 33 of the regulator is a steam pipe 35 which is in directhcommunication with the condenser water under pressure from the boiler. From the cylinder 33 of the regulator there is an outlet port to an exhaust pipe 36. The valve-37 having verticalmovement in the cylinder 33 of the regulator controls the port of the pi 32 to the cylinder 31 of the valve 28, an also the port of the exhaust pipe 36. In one position of the valve 37 water under holler pressure through the pipe 35 is free to pass.

through the cylinder 33 of the regulator into the ipe 32, and through the latter to the cylinder 31. The pressure in the steam pipe 14 and in the pipe 32 is therefore sub stantially the same. The piston 30, however, in the cylinder 31 is of greater area than the valve 28, so that, whenthe pipe 32 is in open communication with the pi 35 by means of the passages around the valve 37, the greater cross-section of. the piston 30 causes the valve 28 to be held on its seat against the pressure of the steam in the pipe 14 from the'boiler. At this time therefore no steam can pass through the valve 28 by way of the pipe 14 to the blowers of the boiler furnace.

The stem 38 of the valve "37 of the regulator is attached to a diaphragm 39 mounted at the base of the regulator cylinder. Pivoted at 40 is a lever 41, one arm 42 of which is also connected to the diaphragm 39, and the other arm of which is weighted as at 43.

, So long as the boiler pressure is maintained 1 at its proper point, the water under boiler pressure through the pipe 35, acting on the diaphragm 39, holds the valve 37 in its downward position, at which time the port of the steam pipe 32 is open, and the water under boiler pressure from the pipe 35 is free to pass by way of the steam passages around the valve 37 into the pipe 32 to hold the valve 28 on its seat, and thus to prevent passage of steam through the pipe 14 to the blowers. "When, however, the rate of consumption of steam exceeds the rate OI sup:

. ply of the same, the boiler pressure falls, and

on reaching a predetermined minimum point, the weight 43, acting through the valve stem 38, raises the valve 37 to close the port of the pipe 32 to the interior of the cylinder 33,

and opens. the pipe 32 by way of a by-pass in the. valve 37 to the exhaust pipe 36, the port of which has heretofore been closed by the valve 37. The pipe 32 is then exhausted through the pipe 36, and the pressure on the iston 30 bein relieved, the steam pressure in the pipe 14 is then free to move the valve 28 so that steam passes through the valve 28 and pipe 14 to the blowers. The blowers acting upon the grate fire then raise the tem-, perature of the boiler furnace, and the boiler pressure until the latter, acting through the pipe 35, again depresses the diaphragm against the action of the weight 33 and moves the valve 37 to open the port to the pipe 32 and to close the port of the exhaust pipe 36. When, by reason of the absorption of heat by the boiler the steam pressure again begins to drop, the above cycle of operations is again repeated. These adjustments are made in practice with great sensitiveness, and regulation within two or three pounds of steam pressure is permanently and automatically secured. By these means the temperature of the boiler furnace remains almost constant, no matter what variation of load there may be; and the efficiency of the boilers and of the gaseous fuel and solid fuel are thereby greatly increased. This automatic regulation also takes care of the fluctuation in quantity and quality of the blast furnace gases, because, when these gases are freely flowing and of good quality, they need no acceleration and no additional solid fuel fire, but as they deteriorate in these respects the apparatus mentioned is ready automatically to take up the loss.

The advantages of the blowers 7, in connection with the regulator, as a means for automatically boosting or accelerating the feed of the blast furnace gases, if necessary, have been pointed out. These blowers as a means for feeding the blast furnace gases have, however, the further advantage over the means heretofore used for this purpose, in that back pressure which from time to time results from the variable and uncertain feed of the gases, as blowing engines ordinarily used, is overcome by these steam blowers, because with the steam blowers there is, whenever required, a positive suction upon the blast furnace gas line.

I claim:

1. In a method of burning solid fuel in conjunction with gases from a blast furnace, or other source; first, maintaining a solid fuel fire by means of a varying or intermittent blast therethrough; secondly, feeding the gaseous fuel into the furnace and there igniting the same to produce a heating effect which will vary according to the varying character and Volume of the constituents of said gases; and thirdly, utilizing the variations in the heating effect of the gas eous fuel to regulate the solid fuel fire blast in such manner that, upon a predetermined drop in the heatin value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fue blast will rise automatically to increase the heating effect of the solid fuel fire; and, upon a predeter-- mined increase in heating value of the gas eous fuel,'the solid fuel blast will drop antomatically to lower the heating effect of the solid fuel fire.

2. In a method of burning solid fuel in conjunction with gases from a blast furnace, or other source; first, maintaining a solid fuel fire by means of a varying or intermittent blast therethrough; secondly, feeding the gaseous fuel into the furnace together with air and steam and there igniting the same to produce a heating eflectwhich will vary according to the varying character and volume of the constituents of said gases; and thirdly, utilizing the variations in the heating effect of the gaseous fuel to regulate the solid fuel fire blast in such manner that, upon a predetermined drop in the heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will rise automatically to increase the heating effect of the solid fuel fire; and, upon a predetermined increase in heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will drop automatically to lower the heating effect of the solid fuel fire.

3. In a method of burningsolid fuel in conjunction with gases from a blast furnace, or other source; first, maintaining a fire of solid fuel low in volatile constituents, by means of a varying or intermittent blast therethrough; secondly, feeding the gaseous fuel into the furnace to cause the same to be ignited in the presence of the solid fuel fire, and to produce a heating effect which will vary according to the varying character and volume of the constituents of said gases; and thirdly, utilizing the variations in heating effect of the gaseous fuel to regulate the solid fuel fire blast in such manner that,- upon a predetermined drop in the heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will rise automatically to increase the heating efi'ect of the solid fuel fire; and, upon a predetermined increase in heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will drop automatically to lower the heating effect of the solid fuel fire.

4. In a method of operating a boiler furnace to burn solid fuel in conjunction with gases from a blast furnace, or other source; first, maintaining in the boiler furnace a solid fuel fire by means of a varying or intermittent blast therethrough; secondly, feeding the gaseous fuel intothe boiler furnace and there igniting the same; thirdly, utilizing the variations in boiler steam pressure at the boiler furnace to regulate the solid fuel fire blast in such manner that, upon a predetermined drop in the steam pressure, the Solid'fuel blast will rise auto matically to increase the heating effect of the solid fuel fire; and upon apredetermined increase in the steam pressure, the solid fuel blast will drop automatically to lower the heating effect of the solid fuel fire.

5. In a method of burning solid fuel in conjunction with gases from a blast furnace or other source; first, maintaining a solid fuel fire by means of a varyingor intermittent blast therethrough; secondly, feeding the gaseous fuel into the furnace by means of a boosting or impelling blast of varying or intermittent force; thirdly, igniting the gaseous fuel in the furnace to produce therein a heating effect which will vary according to the varying character and volume of the constituents of said gases; and fourthly, utilizing the variations in heating efiect of the gaseous fuel to regulate the solid fuel fire blast, and to regulate the boosting. or impelling blast, in such manner that, upon a predetermined drop in the heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will rise automatically to increase the heating effect of the solid fuel fire, and the boosting blast will rise automatically to accelerate the feed of the gaseous fuel; and, upon a predetermined increase in the heating value of the gaseous fuel, the solid fuel blast will automatically drop to diminish the heating effect of the solid fuel fire, and the boosting or impelling blast will automatically drop tpl tlecrease the rate of feed of the gaseous e 6. In a method of operating a blast furnace and a boiler furnace, the one in conjunction with the other; first, maintaining a solid fuel fire at the .boiler by means of an auxiliary blast of varying orintermittent force through said solid fuel; secondly, conveying thev blast furnace gases continuously from the blast furnace into the boiler furnace and there igniting the same to produce therefrom a heatin eflect whichvaries according to the varying character and volume of the constituents of the blast furnace gases; thirdly, utilizing the variations in boiler steam pressure to regulate the auxiliary blast through the solid fuel fire in such effect of the solid fuel fire.

7. In a method of operating a blast furnace and a boiler furnace, the one in conupon a predetermined drop in the boiler pressure, the impelling blast will rise automatically to accelerate the feed of the blast furnace gases to the boiler furnace; and will drop automatically to decrease the rate of feed of the blast furnace gases when the boiler pressure increases a predetermined amount. a

8. In a method of operating a blast furnace and a boiler furnace, the one in conjunction with the other; first, maintaining at the boiler a solid fuel fire by means of a varying or intermittent auxiliary blast through such fuel; secondly, feeding the gases from the blast furnace into the boiler urnace by means of a varying or intermittent auxiliary boosting or impelling blast; thirdly, igniting the blast furnace gases in the boiler furnace to produce in the latter a heating effect which varies according to the varying character and volume of the constituents of said blast furnace gases; fourthly, utilizing the variations in boiler pressure to regulate the solid fuel fire blast and to regulate the boosting or impelling blast in such manner that, upon a. predetermined drop in the boiler pressure, the

solid fuel blast will automatically rise to :in-

crease the heating effect of the solid fuel fire, and the impelling blast will automatically rise to accelerate the feed of the blast furnace gases; and, upon a predetermined in crease 1n the boiler pressure, the solid fuel HENRY EDWIN PARSON.

Witnesses: v

GEORGE L. Pimiv'riss, B. E. Sm'rma.

16th day of 

